Medtronic Out of ALEC

Wed, 05/30/2012 - 1:56pm — Justin

Medtronic Out of ALEC

The most recent spate of companies fleeing from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have been from the education and retail sectors, but yesterday ALEC got a rebuke from the healthcare industry as well. Medtronic[1], the medical technology company, has informed[2] the Center for Media and Democracy that they did not renew their ALEC membership. Medtronic is the 17th corporation to leave the organization.

ALEC’s “healthcare” agenda is much less about helping sick people than about enriching healthcare corporations. To do so, ALEC advocates for policies that put quality care out of reach for many people by privatizing[3] Medicare and Medicaid and repealing important laws that expand public access to care, including[4] ObamaCare. They also push for the deregulation[5] of the pharmaceutical and insurance industries and seek to limit accountability[6] for drug companies that produce faulty medications that can cause injury or death.

The ALEC agenda is extreme, and when it comes to public health, it’s downright dangerous. Medtronic now joins Blue Cross Blue Shield in doing right by their customers and patients by getting out of ALEC.